Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are a couple pics of my wild caught speckled kings from calcasieu parish, La. I plan to try and breed them next season. I've the male(on top) for about two years and the female a year.

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Matt Kauffman

I just got a pair of Jim Seargents Lemon yellow, Harris county Texas locale and am looking forward to seeing them grow up. Good luck with them.
Bob.

Hey Bob post em up. I have 1.2 08' Harris county from a WC gravid I'm raising up. They are little firecrackers man. I'll try to shoot some photos of them as soon as they dump that last meal.
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Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

I'll give it a try if I can Joe. Looking forward to checking yours out.

Thanks. They seem to be very similar, as Harris Co. is about an hour and half away from me. My male has more yellow than the female, but they came from the same immediate area. They also differ ventrally, with the female having mostly yellow ventral scales and the male almost a checkerboard pattern of yellow and black. How do yours look?
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Matt Kauffman

Matt, They are pretty small now, one more evenly patterned than the other. It's been awhile since I used photobucket. I'll see if I can post a few shots sometime soon. I'm on the east coast. Nice to talk to folks that live in the area from where your favorite animals live.
Bob.

np

>>np

Bob,
Nope, never saw the WC gravid female. These were a gift from a friend. They are still very small, I'll shoot photos tomorrow or the next day.
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Herp Conservation Unlimited
Mexicana Group Directory
Photography by Joseph E. Forks

np

Thanks Joe. How do yours look ventrally? Mine are described later in post.
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Matt Kauffman

Very nice! Holbrooki are definitely on my want list...
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Diego

SWCHR

Thanks Diego. These are actually pretty common in my neck of the woods. I found the male in my driveway. I also caught and released two this year from around my neighborhood. One was a little over four feet long. He was probably very old as his ventral scales were worn away in many places. I wish I would have taken a pic of him.
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Matt Kauffman

many from your area that have evenly distributed speckles without residual juvenile banding?

Yes, almost all of them that I have seen have one speckle on each scale(or close to it). The further south(in cameron parish)you go it seems the speckling is more uniform. I have heard that some specimens from there have an orangish color, but I haven't pernonally seen them. Would like to though.
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Matt Kauffman

Wow. If you ever did come across them please post them. Theres alot of folks here who'd love to see them.

What part of east coast? I'm originally from Lancaster,Pa. I've been here in the Lake Charles area for about 17 years. In that time I have seen many spec. kings. They seem to be holding up pretty well against suburban developement(or as best they can I guess). Still have yet to find my first Louisian milk though. That's my white whale.
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Matt Kauffman

Scotch Plains N.J. It's a definite change of scenery out your way. I was out in Albuquerque N.M a while back and checked out the Rattlesnake museum. I live in nice area near the Watchung Reservation. Lots of trees. I did miss that out your way but having herps at your doorstep has got to be cool. I am often jealous of my friends in N.C. and Florida. When I visit and you see skinks, tree frogs and snakes around the backyard, wow......

I always wanted to check out the pine barrens when I lived up there, but never got the chance. I moved here when I was 18, but I still visit my parents every year. I used to catch black rats and racers, eastern milks, garter, northern water snakes, and I even had honey hole that produced a lot of copperheads. It was an old railroad track along the susquehanna river. Brings back good herp memories. Now I kinda wish I could catch those species again. It's funny how that works.
Here's a pic of a gravid glossy crayfish snake I caught this year. It's a little off subject, but I think she's cool.

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Matt Kauffman

Very cool Matt. I realize I was mistaken in thinking you were from a much drier area. The pine Barrens are neat. I love those scrubby pinrs and the sandy soil. I don't go there very often even though it's not too far away.

That's awesome! I would love to see some of that stuff out here. Not that I'm complaining about the herps here in AZ, but it would be great to see some of the eastern animals as well.
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Diego

SWCHR

Matt,

I'm also from Calcasieu Parish (Sulphur). I miss seeing those uniform spec's! I did catch one just before I moved to Austin last year and brought it with me. It's still little and has some of the banding, but it's starting to even out.
I did have a w/c Cameron Parish specimen that I got from my brother, but it succumbed to a skin infection that it had when it was caught. It was a beautiful snake, but alas, not orange. It was a richer, more golden yellow, though.

Message me if you ever want to go herping around the Lake area. I go home every few months to visit. My brothers and I grew up in the country and we like to look for snakes.
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1.1.0 Hondurans Het Amel
1.1.0 Hondurans Anery, Het Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo
0.1.0 Honduran Hypo, Het Anery
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1.0.0 Thayeri MSP
0.0.1 GBK Blair's Phase
1.0.0 California King
0.1.0 California King Blue-eyed Blond
0.0.1 Speckled King WC
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1.0.0 San Diego Gopher, Poss. Het Applegate
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0.1.0 Girlfriend, Caucasius Mexicana, Fiancee Phase

http://www.cafepress.com/shedz

That sounds good. There is a spot(if its still there) in cameron parish I'd like to go to. When I was in college(at McNeese) we went on a field herp. trip there and collected seven spec. kings under a bunch of tin, stacked up like a snake condo. There were also a couple of large mud snakes there. That was like ten years ago though, but we can still get out and see. Give me an email some time- mattwend@yahoo.com
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Matt Kauffman